Postecoglou blames Football Manager

Not wanting to shirk his responsibilities, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has taken responsibility for his team’s anti-climactic performance against South Africa, claiming his failure to update his copy of Football Manager before kick-off meant the tactics he employed during the real match weren’t properly tested.

Speaking to journalists this morning, Postecoglou explained that he’d meant to update Football Manager this week so he could practice the team’s new-look 4-3-3 formation prior to last night, but had gone over his broadband data usage at his home, rendering his internet connection useless.

“Football Manager patches are huge! Have you ever tried downloading hundreds of megabytes when your provider has slowed you to a crawl?

“I didn’t have a choice in the end, I had to make do with the level of artificial intelligence that came with the original version, which I now admit was a mistake. Unlike in the simulations I performed, the South Africans didn’t score 19 own goals or freeze into place, both of which I told the boys to expect when they hit the park.”

Postecoglou said that while coaching the Socceroos is another step up from the A-League, he is confident he has learned from this experience.

“The national team has a bit of a learning curve, it’s true. Clearly my lesson here is “Use less data quota watching Tim Cahill goals on YouTube and more time updating my games.”

Football Manager creator Sports Interactive provided FMF with a statement stating that while Football Manager is one of the most authentic football management simulators on the market, users must ensure their games are up to date.

“This isn’t the first time our game has been blamed for real-life football shortcomings – David Moyes tried to get a refund for his copy of Football Manager 2007 this season after he got the sack from Manchester United.

“We’re only human, unlike football managers, so occasionally the artificial intelligence in our games needs to be tweaked. Managers who don’t download and install these updates are simply playing with fire.”

The honest admission seems to have placated the football community, with the hashtag #Data4Ange threatening to trend on Twitter in Australia. With their next game against Croatia on June 7th, all fans can do is hope the FFA has given Postecoglou the Wi-Fi password to their offices at Whitlam Square.